


Let's try this again....

by Lozza



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Episode Tag, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 03:32:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9302318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lozza/pseuds/Lozza
Summary: tag to episode 7.01 - Steve calls Danny when he finds that chess piece in his house, knowing damn well if he didn't he'd be in a lot more trouble





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I've not done this for a while, but series 7 has just started here in the UK and I had a sudden urge to write a tag for it! So here it is.... I'm hoping it's going to restart my previous McDanno obsession. Enjoy
> 
> (the title is something for me, to tell me to try this again really!)

Danny didn’t like letting Steve go, his partner got into so much trouble on his own. But not just that, he missed him when he wasn’t with him, he loved the guy so much it wasn't even funny any more. But it was difficult for Steve, Danny knew. They had only just started on a sexual relationship, still exploring each other, still learning what was good, what was great and what was fantastic. They still didn’t share a home, not yet, spending a couple of nights a week alone, although Danny was hopeful that would change. 

But Danny knew his crazy SEAL was still hung up on Catherine, and the Detective didn't know whether he wanted to punch her or not because of the stuff she had done. Leaving his lover to be killed by the Taliban was high on his list of ‘things not to go to Steve’, and she was so guilty of that. However talking to him about her was one of the many ways of making Steve clam up, as he’d found out, but he had his ways. 

Now though he was tired, and concerned about his partner. He watching him go and noticed the way the Commander pressed a hand to his sternum when he thought no one was looking. Danny shook his head and jogged off after him, catching up with him as he was hailing Duke. The other cop waited until the big SEAL had garnered a lift home before smiling at Duke and then laying a hand on Steve’s arm, making sure he didn't walk away with the Captain. “Are you okay?” he asked him, looking up at him with some concern. “No jokes, really. Are you okay?”

Steve looked down at him, saw how concerned he was and sighed. “I…” he said, was going to tell him that he was fine, but the chat with that guy in the Chapel resonated with him. “My chest hurts,” he told him truthfully instead. “I kinda feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

Danny frowned and looked down at his chest. “You’re not still bleeding, are you?” he asked him, his voice tense with worry. “I can take you to hospital to get checked out. Do you…?”

Steve smiled and quickly pulled his shirt off his chest so he could check himself. The strapping the EMT had applied was still there, and it was spotless, thankfully. “I’m not bleeding,” he assured him, but he knew Danny was not going to be so easily assured. So he bent his knees a bit and let him check himself, looking down his front to make sure. “Really, Danny,” he assured him. “I just want to go home, take a couple of painkillers and get some sleep. I’ll be fine, really.” 

Danny wasn’t reassured, it was written all over his face, but Steve didn’t want to be the one to pull him away from a party even just a small one like this. “Really, Danny. I’ll be fine. I’ll text you when I get home, I promise.”

Danny frowned at him. “And take some painkillers,” he added, telling him, not asking. 

Steve nodded, conceding this one. “And take some painkillers,” he assured him, agreeing. “I’ll get to bed and call you in the morning, okay? There’s no need for you to miss tonight to look after me.”

It took a couple of long moments, almost a minute in his estimation, but eventually his partner nodded. “Alright,” Danny acquiesced. “Text me when you get home, call me in the morning. If I don’t hear from you in half an hour I’m coming over, and if I don’t hear from you by nine AM, I’m also coming over. Got it?”

Steve smiled and flicked him a sketchy salute. “Got it,” he agreed, and intended to keep to it. Although he held no illusions that Danny wouldn’t be over in the morning anyway, which was not a bad thing, breakfast on his lanai with his partner was one of the highlights of his day. 

 

Danny knew he was distracted during the meal, he had his phone out on the table beside him and kept his eye on it. He also spotted the others giving each other knowing looks when they saw him looking at it, but he didn't really care. If they didn't know by now how he felt about Steve then they shouldn't be detectives. All he was waiting for was a text message from Steve telling him he was home okay. He knew he should have gone with him, at least just to make sure he got home safely, but his partner could be as stubborn as himself and would have made it very difficult for Danny to have gone with him. It was taking a while though, a few more minutes than it would have normally taken to get Steve home from this area in town, but of course it wasn't the Commander himself driving. Still, he breathed a sigh of relief when his phone starting to ring and Steve’s goofy face appeared on the screen. He picked it up and answered, pressing the device to his ear. “Steve, you home?” he asked, smiling at Chin who was watching him. 

“Danny!” Steve shouted to him, sounding in a panic. “Someone was in my house!” 

That was not what his partner wanted to hear. He stood, almost toppling the table, his smiling changing to panic. “Where are you?” he demanded, fumbling for his keys. “Get out of the house! Are you all right? Steve?”

“I’m okay,” Steve replied. He sounded breathless, but at least he was talking. “Danny…” He didn’t need to say anything else. 

Danny glared at Chin and waved at him, but the Lieutenant had already realised something was going on, standing too. “I’m on my way,” his partner assured Steve, who could hear Chin talking in the background as well. “Stay outside, stay armed, make sure no-one can come up behind you. Got it?”

“Yes,” Steve replied. It wasn’t something he didn’t know and he knew Danny knew it too, but he was just so relieved he could hear him and he was on his way. “Danny…”

Chin didn’t need to be told something was up, the look on Danny’s face that changed from fond when he answered his phone to suddenly panicked and when he jumped to his feet told him something was up. Then he heard words he really didn’t want to when Steve was alone: “Stay armed”. He stood up too, waved at Kono who was waiting at the bar, and knew she would make her way back over when she looked at him with a frown. Danny was still talking on his phone, now making his way out from the table they had nabbed in the corner, his car keys in his hand. Chin didn’t even bother grabbing them from him, he knew his friend was going to put his partner to shame with his driving to get to him. Instead he quickly murmured to Kono when she got over to him that something was up and they needed to get to Steve’s as soon as they could, and she agreed to get Lou and follow them. Then he followed Danny as he rushed out of the bar, and had to sprint to get around the car into the passenger side before he drove the Camaro out of the car park without him. 

“I’m on my way,” the man in question said again, hearing what Steve’s tone was telling him. “I knew I should have gone with you.” Steve could hear him moving, hear the door of a car opening, hear a throaty engine start and he knew it was the Camaro from the sound. “Are you driving?” he asked, trying to calm himself down at the sound of his voice. “You’re not allowed.”

Danny was silent for a moment, the car definitely wasn’t, he was driving it, from the sound, like a madman. “Shut up,” he said in response. “Be safe, I’ll be there soon.” 

“Okay, Danno,” he agreed with a smile. “Okay.”

 

Steve looked up from where he was sitting on his front porch when he heard the welcome sound of the Camaro being driven like it was stolen down his road. The lights, blue, red and full beam lit up the road, the sirens split the silence of the evening. Whoever it was had gotten there in record time, so it was probably … Yes, Danny in the driving seat, when he wasn’t supposed to be, Chin next to him hanging on for dear life to the oh shit handle, and his partner looking murderous. Even though it would take him a moment more to get to him Steve felt a lot more secure just seeing him there, watching him approach. Danny would protect him, he knew, he knew he had been wrong to tell that guy in the Chapel that he had lost everything over the last 6 years, he was wrong. He had gained so much as well: a blond firebrand who would, and had, moved the Earth to protect him, to make sure he was okay. Who loved him. 

He stood when Danny drove the car onto his driveway, watched as the car skidded to a halt on his gravel, and found himself smiling when his partner didn’t even turn the engine off when he got out of the car. He just ran over, gun out, and leapt up the stairs to him. Danny grabbed his arm, pulled him close to his left side, and looked around the porch, searching for any threat. “Are you okay?” he asked quickly, tugging him closer. “Steve, talk to me, what happened?”

The Commander leant against him for a moment before he said anything, just letting his partner’s strength bolster him up. “Someone was in my house when I got home,” he told him, watching with one eye as Chin leant over to turn off the engine before he got out of the car himself, and started to walk over. “I didn’t see anyone, but heard someone in the kitchen when I got in.”

Danny looked back at him and sighed. “So of course you went in,” he commented darkly, and Steve frowned at him. “My house,” he commented, and his partner nodded. “True,” he conceded. “What else?”

“Whoever it was went out the back, I think,” Steve continued, and showed him the chess piece. “This was left on the table on the lanai.”

Danny didn’t take it, he probably didn't want to put more DNA or prints on it, but stared at it in Steve’s hand, chewing on his lip. Chin got to them before he said anything, but his grip had tightened on Steve’s arm enough to let him know he was worried. 

“You okay, brah?” he asked. “What happened?”

Danny turned to him. “It seems Shaw is not our vigilante killer,” he said grimly and nodded at the chess piece his best friend was still holding. 

“Fuck,” the other detective grumbled and reached into his pocket for an evidence bag. Even though he was off duty he always had one of more of these with him, never knowing what these two would get into without him. He held it open and watched as Steve simply tipped the piece in, sealed it and then held it up to the light so he could see it. “Looks like the King,” he told them as he studied it. “Anything else out of place?” he asked, looking back at Steve. 

Who looked surprised. “I don’t…” he said, and shook his head. “I just saw the piece,” he admitted after a moment. “I didn’t check.” He turned to the house, but Danny tugged on his arm again before he pushed him gently towards Chin. 

“I’ll check,” he told him, squeezed him, and then let him go. Steve stepped forward to join him when he walked towards the house, but this time Chin stopped him.   
“He’ll be fine,” he assured him, stepping close as Steve watched worriedly as his partner slipped into his house. “Whoever it was is long gone.”

Steve nodded, he knew it, but still, it was Danny, going in alone. He didn’t like it, but he knew he wasn’t in a fit state to go in after him, not at present. He chewed on his lip, Chin noticed how Danny-esque that was, and let him do it without saying anything. Instead he tugged on his arm and pulled him off the porch to the Camaro, and then ushered him into the passenger seat. “Sit and wait,” he told him. “Danny’ll let us know if he needs help.”

Steve nodded, he had no doubt the guy from New Jersey who had done so much for him would let him know if he needed help, he just didn't like being without him in a potentially dangerous situation. He stared at the house in silence, Chin alternately watching him and the house as they waited. 

It was only a couple of minutes to wait, but it felt an age until two things happened at once. Danny flicked the lights on and off in the front bedroom three times, their signal for all okay, and another car was driven into the driveway. This one was Lou’s SUV, but the driver was a bit slower than Danny had been. Lou pulled up, turned the engine off before he and Kono tumbled out of the vehicle and both made their way quickly over to the other car. 

Kono crouched beside Steve while Lou flanked Chin. “Okay?” she asked and frowned when he barely noticed her.

“Danny’s checking the house,” Chin answered, and she knew then why the boss was distracted. “It seems we were a bit premature in closing the case,” he added and showed her the evidence bag. 

Steve was ignoring them, and only relaxed a bit when his partner finally reappeared at the front door. Danny was in one piece, and he walked back over to them, one of Steve’s bags draped over his shoulder. With a frown Steve watched him and waited for him to put whatever he had brought with him into the trunk before he made his way back towards him. Kono moved out of the way for him and he took her place, crouching by Steve’s side and laying a hand on the SEAL’s thigh. “All clear,” he told him, and them all. “Nothing moved, nothing missing, nothing extra apart from that piece,” he assured him, them all.

Steve laid his hand on Danny’s and looked down at him. “You okay?” he asked quickly. “What’s in the bag?”

Danny smiled up at him and nodded. “I’m fine, there’s nothing extra there. And I got some supplies for you, you’re staying at my place for the next few days,” he added, certainly not asking. “Do you have plenty of meds?”

Steve nodded, not saying anything. He didn’t really need to, Danny was doing what he did best and looking after him, something he did really well. Danny smiled at him, let go of his leg just so he could cup his partner’s cheek in his hand. “Chin, can you deal here while I take this one home?” 

Chin grinned, neither of them were looking at him, just at each other, and as he watched Steve relaxed even further and leant against Danny’s strong hand. “No problem,” he agreed. Sara was with his Aunt and fine, and he was hoping, that after six years, they had finally gotten a clue. “Take him home, I’ll call in the morning,” he assured them both, and got out of the car, leaving them to it. It took them both a few moments to realise they were alone, that Chin had left them and both Kono and Lou had joined him some feet away, closer to the house. Danny finally stood, but only so he could walk round the car to the driver’s seat. He got in, buckled up and shut the door, then looked over at Steve. “Buckle up, Babe,” he told him and waited for him to do exactly that before he turned the engine back on again and drove away, at a much slower speed than he had arrived. 

It didn’t take long to get to his home from Steve’s, only about ten minutes, and as he parked his car in it’s usual spot Steve watched him with a faint smile. “Weren’t you supposed to be not driving for another week?” he asked as Danny turned off the ignition. 

His friend looked at him and grinned. “Yeah well, rules are made to be broken, aren’t they?” he retorted. 

Steve’s smile expanded. “Only some of them,” he conceded. “Some of the time.”

 

Danny lay awake for some time after Steve had finally fallen asleep. It had taken a few minutes of bickering to get the man in bed, Steve hadn’t wanted to deprive his partner of his new mattress or so he said, but Danny was stubborn. Eventually he had simply pushed, pulled and prodded the SEAL into his bed, manhandled him onto his comfortable side and pressed him down against his own chest to rest at least. As soon as Steve had figured out what he was planning on doing he had been agreeable, plastered himself along Danny’s side, rested his cheek on one furred pectoral, his hand wrapped around Danny’s hip, not going to let go in a hurry. Danny had pulled the covers up to Steve’s shoulders, rested a hand on the nape of SuperSEAL’s neck and turned off the light. “Go to sleep,” he told him quietly. “I’ll be here.”

Steve grumbled something unintelligible and then let the reassuring sound of Danny’s heart, the painkillers he had taken and the soothing room he found himself in do the job. He was asleep in moments, leaving Danny to lie back and gently massage his neck with his fingertips while he stared at this ceiling. Typical, he thought to himself, when he needed it, badly, sleep was something he was allergic to. But not for too long, as it turned out. He had been known to stare at the insides of his eyelids for hours at night, telling his brain to turn off so he could get some sleep, but tonight, with Steve safe and cosy next to him, he was soothed enough to drop off himself.

 

Steve woke before his partner in the morning, but he was comfortable and content and stayed where he was. They had moved in the night both were on their sides facing each other with Danny pressed against him, one hand splayed across his pec, the other on Steve’s hip. It gave him the opportunity to watch him for a few moments at least. Danny was normally moving when he was awake, even if it was just twiddling his fingers and/or circling his ankles. Now everything was relaxed in sleep, even the dark circles that had been virtually permanent since their op were fading. The Commander was just so grateful to him, his partner. He'd stood by him during everything, even when he was contemplating marrying Catherine. How he would have felt if he’d been forced to watch and stand by while someone he loved as much as Danny told him he loved him had fallen for and planned to marry someone else, he didn’t know, but he knew if wouldn’t have been pretty. It had taken him almost dying in an aeroplane and Danny to save them both by pulling a couple of moves he would have shouted at length at Steve himself for, for the SEAL to get a clue finally. He realised, as he lay there watching him, that the feeling he had had since he’d finally kissed Danny when his partner was feeling particularly unloved in the hospital was what being happy felt like. His shoulders seemed a lot lighter, he could stand straighter, his smiles were wider and not forced, and that was because he could do this now. Which was reach forward and touch his handsome face, shuffle forward on his admittedly very comfortable mattress and slide an arm around his back to hold him close, and press a kiss to his forehead. “I love you,” he murmured quietly and kissed him again. “Now wake up and lets have sex.” 

Danny snorted with laughter and opened his eyes, looking up at him with fond amusement. “And you got that name Smooth Dog how?” he asked him. “You’re lucky you’re pretty, and I love you too.”

Steve smiled and pushed him over onto his back so he could slide on top of him. “I got it because of my moves,” he responded, and showed him when his partner just laughed at him again.


End file.
